ARTESIA – Although the Carlsbad girls basketball team was again plagued by a slow start at Artesia, the Cavegirls found outside shots were their way out.

Once a couple of those shots fell late in the third quarter, Carlsbad got a solid rhythm going down the stretch to win Tuesday's county rivalry game, 45-24, and remain undefeated.

"It was just really awesome to see our team explode. We had the upper hand on them," junior point guard Mariel Gomez said.

The Cavegirls outscored the Lady Bulldogs 16-5 in the third quarter to get ahead for good.

Gomez did the honors of hitting those shots, knocking down a pair from the top edge of the wing.

The Cavegirls hit deep shots from the corners and darted inside for quick buckets to keep expanding the lead.

"It extended the lead and allowed us to play free," coach John Zumbrun said. "It just took a little time to break through this time."

Sophomore shooting guard Carsyn Boswell scored a game-high 18 points to go with one rebound and two steals. Gomez had six points (via her two key 3s in the third quarter), eight rebounds, seven steals and one assist.

Artesia's Alexa Riggs had six points, one rebound and one steal, while Paityn Houghtaling had four points, three rebounds and four steals. The Lady Bulldogs (5-2) play in the Alamogordo tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

Carlsbad (13-0) will have the next two weeks off for the holiday break before starting District 3-6A play at 7 p.m. Jan. 3 at home against Mayfield.

"We're going to be really confident going into district," Gomez said.

Bulldogs edge Cavemen in final minutes

Carlsbad missed a few too many easy shots and committed multiple turnovers late in the fourth quarter, losing 46-41 Tuesday at Artesia.

The Bulldogs defeated the Cavemen for the first time since Feb. 5, 2011.

"Wow," Artesia coach Michael Mondragon said, shocked it had been that long. "Any time you hear a stat like that, it just shows you how good Carlsbad's been. We just kept fighting. I thought our defense came in at the most crucial times. We had to get some momentum somewhere."

Carlsbad got some key stops and deflections in the middle lanes for much of the night, but struggled to do significant damage on the scoring end.

Meanwhile, Artesia soon got some key transition buckets and knocked down some big free throws late in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs have now defeated last year's top two 6A programs in Rio Rancho and Carlsbad during their first two weeks of the season.